Gingrich Laces Up for Presidential Run

Decision to Form Fund-Raising Committee Is Likely to Spur Rivals to Declare for 2012 GOP Field

By

Neil King Jr. And

Patrick O'Connor

Updated March 2, 2011 12:01 a.m. ET

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich plans to take a further step toward a potential bid for the White House on Thursday, announcing an "intent'' to form a committee that will allow him to raise money for a candidacy, an adviser said.

If he follows through, Mr. Gingrich would be the first major 2012 candidate to form a presidential exploratory committee. His decision in essence would start the race to pick a Republican challenger to President Barack Obama, as it is likely to trigger announcements from other potential candidates. It would also end a long period in which potential candidates have been building staffs, talking to fund-raisers and traveling to early-primary states, all without formally entering the fray.

Mr. Gingrich's aides left some doubt about the former speaker's plans and the timing of his next steps. Early Tuesday, an aide said that Mr. Gingrich would announce the formation of an exploratory committee Thursday during a trip to his home state of Georgia, and other news media reported a similar statement by a second Gingrich advisor. Later, the aide said Mr. Gingrich would say Thursday that he was announcing an intent to form such a committee.

Forming an exploratory committee allows someone to raise and spend money for a candidacy while still testing the waters, without adhering to the stricter reporting standards of an official campaign.

Also expected to take the next steps toward White House bids soon are former Govs. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. Messrs. Gingrich and Pawlenty plan to face off Monday with at least three others at an Iowa candidates' forum hosted by an evangelical group.

Mr. Gingrich would enter the race as one of the best-known Republicans. As a Georgia congressman, he led the Republican takeover of the House in 1994 after four decades of Democratic control. Among other features of his time as speaker, Mr. Gingrich clashed frequently with President Bill Clinton and helped foment the federal government shutdowns of 1995 and 1996.

Newt Gingrich

Born June 17, 1943

Graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, received his PhD from Tulane University in New Orleans

Taught history at University of West Georgia

Elected to Congress in 1978

Led GOP takeover of the House in 1994, became Speaker in 1995

Resigned his seat in 1998

Founded a nonprofit policy group, American Solutions, in 2007

Advisers said a Gingrich campaign would focus on federal spending and the national debt, and would portray the 67-year-old Mr. Gingrich as unusually well-equipped to boost job growth and trim spending. Mr. Gingrich was in the thick of crafting the balanced-budget deal with Mr. Clinton in 1997 that led to a brief spell of federal surpluses in 1998 and 1999. He also engineered the overhaul of the federal welfare system.

"Gingrich has the largest set of non-rhetorical accomplishments of any of the prospective 2012 field," said his spokesman, Rick Tyler. "Everyone is going to say, 'I will do this' or 'I will do that.' But he is the only one who has done it before."

Mr. Gingrich has spent recent years producing books and movies while expanding what GOP operatives say is a formidable network. His nonprofit group, American Solutions, raised more than $25 million in the last election cycle while promoting a number of causes, including expanded oil drilling and repeal of the new health-care law. His latest battle cry: dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency

His meteoric rise was followed by an equally rapid descent. Mr. Gingrich was censured by the House for ethics violations in 1997, and resigned his seat the following year after GOP losses. And by divorcing his first two wives—and acknowledging an extramarital affair—he damaged his standing among social conservatives.

More recently, Mr. Gingrich has supported positions that GOP voters could find troubling. In 2007, for example, he appeared in a commercial with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) asking Congress to address climate change, and expressed support for a cap-and-trade system to rein in carbon emissions.

As the field takes shape, some candidates are certain to run but are waiting for the right moment to announce.Mr. Pawlenty said Tuesday he would make an announcement in the next month or two. Mr. Romney is a near lock to run, but can wait because he enjoys wide name recognition and a sprawling network of financial backers from his first bid in 2008.

Other Republicans seem inclined to run but have other obligations.Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said he wouldn't decide until the current legislative session wraps up in April, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman needs to finish up his tenure as U.S. ambassador to China. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has publicly weighed a bid for months.

The biggest wild cards at this stage are Mr. Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Mr. Huckabee polls well nationally and retains close ties to the Christian conservatives who helped him win Iowa in 2008, and Ms. Palin's celebrity would likely help her dominate news coverage, at least initially.

The first candidates out of the gate have more time to raise and spend money introducing themselves to voters in the early primary states—a necessity for those who aren't nationally known. The downside is more scrutiny and the potential to be outshined by later entries.

"It's different for different candidates," Mr. Pawlenty said. "Some of those folks have run before. They've got high name ID and a legacy."

Mr. Pawlenty has made repeated trips to early primary states and spoke last weekend at a gathering of tea party activists in Phoenix. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has also been making the rounds in early primary states.

Mr. Santorum said in an interview that money was a big reason the campaign was getting off to a slow start. "There just isn't the money out there" that people expect, he said, predicting that Mr. Obama won't manage to top his 2008 mark, when his campaign hauled in a record $746 million.

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